Flight of the Days
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 1296-1302: Brittany and Santana have a plan, to leave Boston for New York City, but in order to do this, they need money, and they've been working tirelessly. - Boston Britt series - Top 15, number 1, Brittany (rating for one part of one chapter)
1. Thursdays

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 61st cycle. Now cycle 62!_

**_TOP 15_****_ COUNTDOWN - _**_Something I do once in a while, if you will recall, where I take my favorite characters, ships, friendships, series (from my daily stories) and put them in order, the number 1 of which gets a seven-chapter story in the end :)  
Coming in at number 1: Brittany S. Pierce_

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**"Flight of the Days"  
Brittany, Santana, Brittany/Santana  
Boston Britt series  
_(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)_**

**1. Thursdays**

On the refrigerator door, they had stuck two calendar sheets, covered in multi-colored writing, one for each of them. It was necessary, to keep tabs on where each of them needed to be on any given day, or else they would never have been able to keep it all straight. This was the price they had to pay, for Operation New York City. They needed money, so they had to work, as much as they could. This meant one odd job here, one odd job there…

Now that they both had their GEDs, it had opened up their schedules enough to fill them in money-earning. It had all been about wasting no time. No matter how crazy it could be at the moment, it would be worth it the day they could say goodbye to Boston and start their lives where they wanted to be.

Santana had five jobs. She was a nanny on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, a dog walker on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, a waitress on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, a Spanish tutor on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings, and, thanks to a fake ID, a bartender on Friday and Saturday nights. Brittany also had five. She was also a nanny, only on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings, a dog walker on Saturday afternoons, an office clerk on Thursday afternoons, a waitress on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons, and, thanks to Santana's advice, a dance teacher on Tuesday afternoons and Friday and Saturday mornings. They both had Sundays off.

Dog Thursday Morning was one of Brittany's favorites, which Santana could have guessed solely from how anxious she would be for them to leave the apartment. She'd practically urge her to finish her breakfast as soon as possible so they could head out and pick up the dogs from their respective homes.

Santana had three of them to get on Thursdays. Pippy belonged to a little girl, and if he'd had any say in the name he would receive, the massive dog might have lobbied for something else. Dexter's owner always had this air about him that made her wonder if perhaps he was way too much of a fan of the TV serial killer. Her favorite was probably Waldo, small and loud; she could appreciate that. The three of them together could be a handful and an unruly bunch, especially next to Brittany's very well-mannered quartet. There was Ginger, dubbed the sweetest and cuddliest, and Santana knew this one was Brittany's favorite. Buzz was not the youngest of dogs, but he could keep up with the best of them. Brittany would imagine that once upon a time he had been a racing dog. The last two, Sonny and Cher, both belonged to their boss at the diner. Brittany was convinced they were brother and sister, although after seeing what they would get up to, Santana had renamed them Jaime and Cersei. Brittany had not known why at first, which had led to Santana repurposing their next Day Off Sunday for a Game of Thrones marathon.

That day, Waldo's leash had snapped as they were walking through the park, and the little thing had scampered off.

"What do we do?" Brittany gasped, looking to Santana.

"Here, take them," she passed her the other two leashes before running after him. "Waldo, stop!" she called out to him. If he made it to the street, he could slip away from her, he could get hit by a car… She wasn't going to let that happen. So she sped up, trying to catch up to him. That tiny dog was fast, but his legs were that as well. She had a longer span, and she could get to him, she could…

A woman with a stroller had come out of nowhere and Santana had swerved out of her path, which had caused her to trip and hit the ground.

"Ow…" she breathed. A few seconds later, she felt what she guessed was Waldo's front paws, climbed up on her stomach. He barked, and she groaned. "I thought we were friends, Wally," she chuckled, then winced. "Ow…" she cried and laughed.

"Santana, you okay?" she could hear Brittany and she turned her head, seeing the blonde dash up with the six dogs.

"I think just a few scrapes, and I'll be sore a while, but I'll survive," she slowly got up, keeping a hold on Waldo so he wouldn't run off again. "Good thing I'm not due for a standing job today."

"Give him to me, I'll get them through the rest and take them home."

"Are you sure? Wait, you and seven dogs, of course you'll be fine," Santana breathed, and Brittany grinned. "No, but I need to walk it off anyway. Come on."

The rest of the walk had been slower, but they had finished their time, returning the dogs to their respective owners. When they had gone back to the apartment, Brittany had patched her up before heading to her office job. Most of the time she only had to print out labels and stick them on envelopes, distribute mail… She liked it just fine, though she was certainly glad it was once a week.

Santana had borrowed some ice once she'd gotten to her afternoon job. She'd been tutoring Sarah and Maya for a few weeks now. The two girls, ten-year-old twins, were home schooled, and had declared that their favorite part of the week was when Santana came to teach them. She had to admit she hadn't wanted to embark on this particular job at first. But this was an asset she had, and not using it would have been wrong, especially with what they were both trying to achieve. So she had taken it.

She was nearly done with her session that day when the doorbell rang and Maya ran off to answer, returning with Brittany on her heel.

"What are you doing here?" Santana smiled, surprised.

"I thought I'd walk you home, after what happened this morning." Once they'd left, Brittany had insisted for Santana to hold on to her arm.

"I can walk, you know?" Santana told her, though she wasn't really complaining.

"I do. But I'm taking care of you. Tomorrow's Friday, you're going to need to be as rested as possible."

"Don't remind me…" Santana breathed.

"Relax, I've got you."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	2. Fridays

**_This is a shift day. _**_There are two updates today._

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**"Flight of the Days"**

**2. Fridays**

Brittany hadn't wanted to let Santana go off to work the morning after her fall, especially as she would describe herself as a walking bruise. The side of her leg on which she'd fallen was an entire rainbow of scrapes and bruises, and Brittany had spent most of the night holding on to her so she wouldn't accidentally roll on to her side in her sleep.

"Don't go. I'll stay with you. We can watch movies, and I'll be your nurse."

"Yeah, I'm not sure that's going to end in me relaxing," Santana shook her head. "Besides, it's Triple Friday, I can't skip out on that, especially with the tips."

"Maybe they'll give you more if they see you limping," Brittany frowned.

"There you go," Santana smirked, taking her bag and going up for her goodbye kiss. "See you at the diner?" she asked. Brittany still looked concerned for her, but she breathed out and kissed her.

"Yeah. Please be careful. Tell Jamie not to make you run around too much."

"Oh, I'll park him in front of the television, he won't move a muscle, it's fine. Now go before you're late." She earned herself another kiss, and then they were off. While Santana went to her nanny duties with Jamie, Brittany had three dance classes back to back.

She hadn't even been sure that she would get to have something like this, after what the Maurizio fiasco had cost her, but as it turned out the woman who ran the small school had a 'mutual friend' in the form of Sherry Weston, and one thing had led to another, which now left Brittany heading up a handful of classes. Santana would say she wished she was actually dancing herself, more than teaching, but Brittany would say this was already more than she thought she could manage. She had lost a lot of the feelings she once had for that whole world, but she hoped maybe seeing others love it would help her start to feel it again.

Her Friday classes were with adults and seniors, but she treated every one of them with the same care and attention. She had a soft spot for her seniors class, saying they reminded her of her grandpa Joseph. After her last class was over, she just had the time to shower and change and then she was off to the diner for her waitressing shift.

She arrived before Santana and, already concerned as she was, she would stand by the door, scanning the streets. When she finally saw her coming, limping along, she went off to meet her.

"How are you feeling? Does it still hurt a lot?" she helped her over.

"I got to sit and watch movies all morning, like you wanted, just with a three-year-old. Not so bad, right? Come on, let's get in there, I'm starving."

Once they'd had their lunch, they were on the clock. As suspected, Santana's limp, and the bruise showing from below her skirt, got her a number of clients who asked what had happened. She had made nearly twice as much in tips as she did on a regular day.

"The kid over there, it's his birthday," Brittany had gone to her during her break. "Can we sing to him when I bring him his cake?"

"If we start doing that, we're going to have to do it again and again," Santana wasn't so sure.

"Yeah, and maybe we'll get paid more, too," Brittany pointed out, and Santana smirked.

"Have I told you you're a genius recently?"

"I don't think so," Brittany thought.

"Well, you are."

The birthday boy was very proudly four years old that day, and when the two waitresses came and sang him a cheerful happy birthday, he stared at them in awe the entire length of the song. When his grandmother had asked him to say thank you, he'd gotten up and hugged them each in turn. If Santana was aching at all, she never let it on to him. At the very least, it made them upbeat for the remainder of their shift.

Heading in for her third job of the day was already tiring when she wasn't working on an injury, but Santana was going to be stubborn and work through it, so Brittany would be there to wait for her when she returned. She could have gotten a fake ID as well, but she didn't want to. On this one day though she almost wished she had one. She already wasn't completely on board with her working there, coming home as late as she would. But the money was good, and they needed it, so she would bite her tongue and wait for her to come home.

Some nights she would fall asleep on the couch, waiting for her, but she made it through this time, and the moment Santana came through the door, Brittany was in nurse mode.

"I would have worked barefoot if it was safe," she sighed, kicking off her shoes.

"Is the new guy still dropping glasses?" Brittany asked, fetching the ice.

"Three tonight. If he's still there tomorrow night… He's a work hazard, and he's not even good at the rest of it. Mixes up drink orders so much I had to step in a couple of times."

"Did you say something?"

"I'm already trying not to get too much attention on myself unless they figure out I'm not even allowed in there, I'm not going to get a guy pissed off enough that he might get me fired, too."

"Right. What if someone called? An anonymous tip? I'll do it," Brittany volunteered, and Santana smiled.

"We'll keep that as our backup plan, alright? But tomorrow night…"

"Tomorrow night, I can be there," Brittany smiled back. "The stamp always takes so long to wash off."

"Yeah, that's kind of the idea."

"I'm letting you sleep in later tomorrow morning, you need all the sleep you can get."

"Yes, Nurse Pierce. Can I have my check up now?" she asked innocently.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	3. Saturdays

**"Flight of the Days"**

**3. Saturdays**

Even though she didn't have her Spanish tutoring to get to until later, Santana would usually wake up with Brittany and make breakfast before the blonde headed off for her Dance & Dog day. But on this Saturday, Brittany had let her sleep off her limping three-job day. She got dressed, went back in and left a kiss on her girlfriend's forehead before heading out. She would get breakfast on the way, perhaps not to step in on their usual Saturday routine by eating at home.

Her Saturday classes were definitely her more energetic ones, with children as small as three and four years old, all the way to kids who were at times her own age. With the little ones, she could lose herself into their energy, and the way she could sometimes make them laugh. They had fun, they were willing to try anything. Whenever a new student would come along and she could see how shy they were, she would make sure to keep them in mind, help them find some way to open up. If she could achieve that, then she was content.

Although she wouldn't bring it up, with her boss, or with Santana, she hated doing her class with the kids her age. She looked at them and she saw herself, saw the opportunities she had been given, the ones she had lost… been robbed of. It was so much more than a school, or a job opportunity, and she didn't know that anyone could really understand it.

It was just as well then that she ended her Saturday classes with her eight to ten group. They could boost her energy almost as much as her youngest group. One of them in particular would make her chuckle in the way that he reminded her so much of Kurt. She could easily picture him at that age, and he would have been just like Henry. Santana had seen a video of him once and, while Brittany had never told her about the resemblance she had felt, she had pointed him right out and exclaimed "Look at mini Hummel!" He was usually the first to volunteer when she would ask for someone to help her demonstrate one thing or another, and he would leave each class saying thank you to his young teacher.

After a quick lunch, she was off to pick up Sonny, Cher, Ginger, and Buzz. On Saturdays, their pack was joined by two more dogs. One was a nervous looking little thing called Webster. Brittany had quickly decided that the last of them, Peach, had feelings for good cuddly Ginger. She had been trying to play matchmaker between the two of them for a few weeks now.

By the time they had made it to the park, three dogs to each side, she could hear Webster growing nervous. The week before, they'd had an encounter with another, bigger dog there, and it didn't seem as though the littler one had forgotten one thing.

"Hey, it's alright, it is, you'll see, it's… Santana?" she nearly dropped the leashes when she saw her sitting on a bench. "What are you doing here?" she smiled, moving toward her. Sonny and Cher were barking, happily recognizing the other girl.

"Finished my lessons early. Mrs. Botner felt bad about my limping that she said we could stop and she would still pay me full price. I tell you, this fall is the gift that keeps on giving. Want me to grab a couple of them?" she asked, indicating the dogs. She had been handed Sonny, Cher, and Buzz' leashes, leaving Brittany with Webster, Ginger, and Peach's. "How'd the classes go? How's mini Hummel?"

"He's good," she smiled. "He's so ready for the pageant next week. You're coming, right?"

"I already talked to Mrs. Botner. It does mean I'll have to do her lesson on Sunday, you don't mind?"

"It's okay," Brittany promised. "I'll… I'll clean the apartment," she decided.

"Should I be extra messy to give you more to do?" Santana asked, and Brittany chuckled. "Hey, hey, Jaime, Cersei, stop that!"

With the six dogs happily returned to their owners, they had returned to the apartment to get changed, Santana to stand behind the bar, and Brittany to stand in front of it. Their Saturday nights were possibly the best thing to have, leading up to their Sundays off. Even though Santana did have to work, which meant she didn't get to spend too much time talking with Brittany, she would have breaks, and those times were spent promptly heading out to the dance floor. By the end of the night, when there were fewer people, Brittany could sit at the bar and they could talk. And when the night ended, they were homebound together, ready to unwind into their proper weekend.

When they'd arrived that night, with Brittany getting in free of charge thanks to Santana, they found at least some of their prayers had been answered. Santana's 'nemesis' had been fired and was a no-show.

"Watch them though, they'll hire an even worse idiot."

'They can't be that bad at hiring people. They hired you," Brittany pointed out.

"Always with the best answers," Santana smirked.

It wasn't long that the place was packed with people both stamped and unstamped. Santana was as unforgiving as they came in checking those hands, and Brittany often had to look away when she was there to witness it, being too aware of the irony there. She knew the schedule of Santana's breaks by heart, and the closer they got to it, she would keep looking at the clock on her phone, like the countdown to New Year's.

"Break!" she called, and Santana came from behind the bar.

"Well when you say it like that," she took her girlfriend by the hand, slipping into the crowd. So long as they remained in tightly packed spots, no one would see her clothes and realize she was one of the bartenders. If they did, some would start to call out drink orders to her, and she did not need that, not in these precious minutes with Brittany.

They danced close, holding on to one another, and for however short her breaks would feel, they might have been the favorite parts of her whole week. There she was, with the girl she loved, the girl she had changed her whole life for. There they were, living off in a big new city, just the two of them together, working like mad in order to build their dream life together. They loved each other, and seeing those feelings in the eyes of the girl dancing in her arms, she didn't know that life could get any better.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	4. Sundays

**_This is a shift day. _**_There are two updates today._

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**"Flight of the Days"**

**4. Sundays**

Brittany had been in the middle of a dream she would have called 'fluffy and frisky.' When she woke up, she was so relaxed she didn't realize at first that she wasn't dreaming anymore. She had a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, the sun beaming through the window, and as she yawned, one of those hands around her had pulled back, to brush the hair from her shoulder. Feeling the press of lips to the newly exposed skin, she smiled. She was awake, she knew now. As vivid as her dreams could be, they couldn't capture that feeling.

"Hi," she turned her head back to find Santana looking at her.

"Morning," she smiled, pulling her closer.

"Last night was really good," Brittany told her, and Santana had a pondering smirk.

"You mean at the bar, or after?" The thought of 'after' had been strong enough to make Brittany turn in her arms to face her, pressing herself closer. "Guess that answers that," she slowly kissed her, breath catching at the feel of the blonde's hands, and the kiss quickly deepened, with Santana's want urging Brittany on. Even barely awake, her girlfriend could do things she never thought possible. "I love Sunday mornings…" she spoke as their lips parted for air. She looked into those eyes again, and she could remember all those little moments at the bar, building them up at every dance until they had come home. They hadn't even made it to the bed at first, as Brittany had pulled Santana on to the couch, making quick work of their clothes. When they had made it to their bed, a peaceful exhaustion had claimed them and they fell asleep, wrapped up in one another's arms.

After their morning 'round three,' they had gotten up and had breakfast, trying to decide what they would make of their day.

"We could go to a museum?" Brittany asked.

"Seriously?" Santana frowned.

"Why not?"

"They're fine, they are," Santana shrugged. "They're not really what I want to do on my one day off though. But if you want to go…"

"No, maybe you're right. Well, what if we…" The phone had rung and interrupted her. They paused, looking at the clock.

"Did we sleep that late?" Santana had not seen the time at all. Brittany got up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi." So unexpected as it had been, hearing her older younger sister's voice made her tear up and smile at once.

"Cat…" she breathed, and she could see Santana had looked up. Brittany nodded to her, and Santana signalled asking if she should step into the room, but Brittany shook her head, so she stayed. "It's good to hear your voice."

For a while she had been so afraid that she might have lost her sister forever, once her decision to remain in Boston had made it back to both her and Izzy. Cat had been so upset she had refused to talk to her. Being in different states, she couldn't just run to her, beg for her forgiveness. She couldn't push either, or she would only push her further away.

It had been a slow process, but eventually she had been able to get Cat to talk to her again. Even then, talking with someone wasn't the same as actually speaking with them, like they had that same connection they used to have. That had been left in shambles after she'd found out about Brittany's official relocation. But once they had started talking again, she had gotten a chance to start rebuilding that, and she wasn't about to waste that opportunity. They were working on it, both of them; Cat didn't want to lose her big sister as much as Brittany didn't want to lose her little sister.

"Were you busy?" Cat asked.

"No, we were just having breakfast. How are you?"

"How do you know when you like someone?" Cat's question had come out of nowhere, but at the same time it had made Brittany smirk.

"What's his name?"

"Thomas. He's Madeline's brother."

"Right, I remember." The twins' mother had gone to high school and Cat and Izzy's mother, so when the family had moved back to Lima, the mothers had been reunited, and Cat had become friends with Madeline. She didn't remember much about the brother except that he existed. "Well, how do you feel when he's there?" she asked, and she could see Santana smiling as she listened. "Wait, even easier. How do you feel when you say his name?" Cat had tried to hide it, but Brittany had still heard her laughing. She hadn't heard it in so long, but it was all she could do not to start crying. "Sounds like you've got something then."

"I do?" Cat asked.

"How much do your cheeks hurt right now?"

"I have to go… I-I mean I'll call back later. Okay, bye."

When Brittany had hung up, she'd stood there for a while, holding the phone close to her heart.

"You okay?" Santana asked.

"She called me for boy advice," Brittany's eyes were glinting with happy tears.

"Big sister to the rescue. You know, I was thinking. I know we're saving up for New York, but I think when we can make a synchronized hole in all our jobs, we should take some of that money and head on to Lima. What do you think?"

"Both of us?" Brittany looked at her. Santana hadn't been yet; things were not so fast at mending with her and her parents as they were getting to be with Brittany and her sisters. She still had some sore points with her own family, but Santana and hers were something else entirely. Now to have her suggest that they go, it was a big step, and they both knew.

"We're all stubborn as hell, someone needs to make a move, so it might as well be me. And it won't be so bad, if I've got you there."

"You will," Brittany promised, moving to hug her.

"You know, I'm actually coming around to the museum idea."

"You are?"

"You'd be surprised what becomes that much more fascinating when you're around."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	5. Mondays

**"Flight of the Days"**

**5. Mondays**

Mondays were one of two days where their calendars color-matched. Pink and red, nanny mornings, waitress afternoons… Now that Santana's tumble in the park the Thursday before was beginning to heal, they could look forward to easier days. When she'd brought this up, Brittany had gotten a sudden look of panic, so Santana had knocked on wood for her sake.

Their nanny jobs were not in the same place the way their waitressing job was, but then like with their dog walker jobs, they would eventually find themselves down at the park with their respective charges.

Santana only had three-year-old Jamie Tyler to look after, although if she was still working for the family in a few months, she would have one more, as Mrs. Tyler was pregnant. Even as she was about to go on maternity leave, she wanted her nanny there. She had even offered Santana to come on full time, even though she was only meant to need her those three mornings. Santana wanted to consider it, but she knew that, if she took the job, then it would mean staying in Boston longer. And they hadn't been working like this, her and Brittany, so they could stay in Boston. So she'd been saying she needed more time to think about it.

Brittany also had three mornings of nanny time, from Mondays to Wednesdays. The Russo family had hired her as one might call 'relief' in the care of their one-year-old girls, Bella, Dora, and Mina. They hadn't been so sure about hiring someone like her, with how old she was, and what little experience she had, but she'd been given a chance to prove herself, and she had surprised them all. Now Mrs. Russo was all but begging for her to stay with them as long as she could.

When she would arrive on Monday mornings, after not having seen them in four days, she was almost as anxious to see the girls as they were to see her. She would get them fed and dressed before they went for the park with the triple stroller. Santana would wonder what she'd done exactly that, both with dogs and children, she'd been dealt the rowdier hand, while Brittany was treated with cuddly dogs and angelic children. Most of the time, the triplets would be asleep in their stroller, while Santana had to keep Jamie Tyler from any sort of injury and general embarrassment.

"He hasn't broken a single bone or eaten a grain of sand, I call that victory," she'd once sighed as they were leaving the park. The one thing she could count on was that, at the end of the morning, he was well worn out and would sleep in her arms the whole way back to his house. On that day, their outing had been cut short, not by a broken bone but a scraped knee, and after that Jamie had very little desire to play. He had run for Santana and she had carried him off.

"We'll go to the Russos', it's closer," Brittany had said, so they went. Once there, she had put the girls down in their cribs before rejoining Santana, who had cleaned Jamie's knee and put a band-aid on it. The two nannies stood before the boy, sat on the couch now with a frown on his face. "What do we do with this one?" Brittany pondered.

"I don't know, good question," Santana played into it, while the boy looked from one to the other.

"I know there's ice cream in the freezer," she suggested, and Jamie's ping pong gaze settled on her, which got them smiling.

"Just a little, I think," Santana suggested.

Eventually Jamie was taken home, and Brittany met Santana again as they arrived at the diner for the afternoon. "Check it out," she held out her phone to show a picture. "Cat sent it just now."

"Is that Thomas?" Santana guessed, and Brittany nodded. "He's cute. You know, for a twelve-year-old." Brittany took the phone back, looking at the picture in turn. "Just remember they're still kids."

"Why?" she frowned, looking back at her.

"You're looking at him like you're already envisioning him becoming your brother-in-law."

"I'm not," Brittany defended, putting her phone in her apron pocket.

"Yeah, sure." As they had thought, their Friday birthday song plan had now been recognized. Perhaps because one of them was also his dog walker, their boss had agreed to give them a – very small but every bit accepted – raise, for services provided. They were a package deal, this was widely known, and now they were taking it one step further.

"I think we are doing pretty good for ourselves, aren't we?" Santana declared as they took their break.

"We'll do even better in New York now," Brittany agreed.

"Yeah, New York…" Santana breathed, and Brittany snaked her arm around hers.

"You still want to go, right?"

"Of course I do, would we be working this hard otherwise?"

"I know, it's just… Well with Mrs. Tyler and the baby and the offer. And I think Mrs. Russo wants me to take on more hours, too."

"We're not here for them," Santana reminded. "We're doing all this so we can go and make the life we want to. We're not going to work five jobs a piece for the rest of our lives, are we?"

"No," Brittany shook her head. "I just feel bad about leaving… all of them. The Russos, Sonny, Cher, Buzz, Ginger, Peach, Webster, all my dance classes… They're depending on me."

"You still want to go?" Santana turned the question on her, honest and understanding.

"All the time."

"But you hate leaving people behind," Santana understood.

"I already did that with my parents, and my sisters, everyone back at McKinley… Haven't even heard from Aimee and Tessa in so long… I hate losing things, and people more than anything."

"Once we're in New York, you're not going to lose things anymore, I'll do my best and make sure you don't," Santana vowed, and Brittany smiled. "You're going to gain them, some new ones and maybe get some of them back."

"I'd like that," Brittany agreed. "Very much."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	6. Tuesdays

**_This is a shift day. _**_There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Flight of the Days"**

**6. Tuesdays**

They had tried at first, once they had settled their schedules, to combine Santana's Tuesday morning dog walking with Brittany's nanny time, but they had found a flaw in the way the dogs responded to the Russo girls. In particular it was Waldo who posed a problem in this. So they had to contend themselves to waiting for the next day, when they would once again have nanny/waitress day.

Brittany did not mind it so much once she actually made it to the Russo house. Spending her morning there instead of at the park, she had developed an entire strategy, making sure that she got to spend time with all three of the girls together, but also giving each one of them some one-on-one time. She never saw the three of them as being so much of a handful. She'd only ever told Santana about this, but they made her think about her own little sisters.

The Russo triplets looked like they could have been related to her, all of them with fine blonde hair and clear blue eyes. It had gotten her thinking about Cat and Izzy. By the time she'd finally met them, they were already children, no longer babies by far. She had never known them when they were born, when they were as small as the triplets. It never used to bother her, but with time, and especially once she'd transferred her life to Boston for dance school and everything that had followed, things had changed. She couldn't really blame them for the way they had reacted, but it still hurt to not have them nearby and then to have them react as they did. She would have given anything not to be away from them, to have a way to get to them that didn't take so much money and so many hours, but that wasn't possible.

When she had met Bella, Dora, and Mina, she had felt this instant connection to them, even before really understanding what it was that made her feel this way. In the long run, maybe it had been the thing to get her the job. The girls could feel the love she already sensed toward them and they had responded to it. That was how she saw it.

After her morning with the Russos was done, she had to hurry home. Santana was already there, getting lunch ready. "How was it this morning?" she asked her.

"I made sure Waldo's leash was solid and secure before we left. No need to have a repeat of last Thursday," Santana frowned, taking the plates to the table. "He behaved though. No messing around today. Pippy and Dexter were the more agitated ones today, that was a change." Noticing Brittany looked distracted, Santana had tapped her arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just… Nothing, forget it," she shrugged, picking up her fork and starting to eat.

"Not usually like you to say 'forget it.' What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I swear," Brittany gave her a smile. "The Russos, my sisters…"

"Oh, right," Santana sat back. "I meant what I said yesterday, we'll find a way to go see them," she nodded, and Brittany was happy to hear it.

But then there was more, even as she kept it to herself. That afternoon, Santana had more Spanish tutoring, with a couple who wanted to learn the language in anticipation of a trip in a few months' time. She would imitate them for Brittany in the evening, how sickeningly sweet and adoring they were the whole time. Brittany didn't mind it, especially when she would use her to demonstrate their 'victory smooches,' as she would call them. For her part, Brittany had more dance classes to give.

Tuesday afternoon classes were a mix of 'the best of the best.' She had seniors, little kids, and eight-to-tens. She could have done Tuesday afternoons over and over again.

Her seniors class had featured the much applauded return of one of their own, who'd had to bow out of class for a few weeks after surgery but was now free to join them again. Santana had danced with the woman herself, deciding that she could be perfect for her grandpa Joseph. Already this had gotten her back to thinking about her family, and her sisters, and the Russo triplets. The transition into her little kids' and her eight-to-tens' class had brought her the rest of the way.

She hadn't wanted to tell Santana, because as much as they were both preparing for this life together in New York, they were still young, and not only would a thing like this be more complicated for a couple of girls, it would cost a lot of money, and it would be something that should wait. But still she did think about it, thought about what it would be like to have children of her own… of their own, her and Santana.

As far as she was concerned, she knew it was something she was going to want. She was almost sure Santana did, too, but then there were those obstacles, their age, their finances, and, most problematic, their lack of a… male component. Even then, if she went to her girlfriend and told her she wanted children someday, would it freak her out enough that she wouldn't hear the 'someday' part and pull away from her all of a sudden? It was all this talk of making a life together, she guessed. It was forcing her to think even further down the road. _I would marry her, and we would be a family, from this day on._ It could only be a dream, a thought, for a time. But for Santana she could be patient.

She had pushed the thoughts aside by the time she made it home. She would pick up a pizza from the restaurant across from the dance school on the way back on Tuesdays. When Santana arrived, they would eat and Brittany would talk about her classes of the day. After dinner, the show would begin, as Santana recounted the adventures of Mr. & Mrs. Snuggles.

"Oh, Rog, you sound so sexy when you speak Spanish," she imitated the breathy-voiced woman, patting at Brittany's arm and making her laugh. "You know it, babe," her voice changed to match the other's voice, and she would tap Brittany's chin and nose before kissing her lightly.

"Are they getting any better?" she asked, smiling.

"Worse, I think. He talks like he's got a potato in his mouth, and no matter many times I make her repeat the sounds, she manages to shove in letters that have no business there. But they pay good money, so I can't feel too bad about it."

"How about you come and teach me some Spanish?" Brittany smirked.

"You're better than both of them put together, Star Pupil," Santana told her.

"But I think I need to review. How do you say 'bed' again?" she asked, leaning in.

"We just finished eating," Santana reminded, though her tone was saying something more like 'clothes, off, now.'

"It'll help, I swear," Brittany stood, holding her hand out to her, and Santana took it.

"Well, can't argue with that logic."

TO BE CONCLUDED (TOMORROW)


	7. Wednesdays

**"Flight of the Days"**

**7. Wednesdays**

When they'd woken up that morning, Brittany had found Santana staring up at the ceiling, which told her there was something bothering her. The blonde turned to her side, propping herself up on her elbow. "What's wrong?" she asked, and Santana looked back at her.

"Do you think I should tell Mrs. Tyler I can't take her offer now? Even if it means that she'll start looking for a new nanny for Jamie, it wouldn't be fair to hold it off and pretend like I might actually tell her yes."

"I think you might have to," Brittany agreed. "It'll be too bad if you have to stop seeing Jaime, but I guess that was going to happen anyway, right?"

"Right," Santana breathed.

"What are you going to do with those mornings if she lets you go?"

"Guess I'll try and find a new family to nanny for. She'll give me a good reference."

"She has to. Jamie loves you," Brittany smiled, tracing her fingers along her girlfriend's arm.

"Gonna miss that kid," Santana watched her, the gentle strokes helping her calm down again.

"What if I brought the triplets to the Tylers' instead of all of us going to the park? If we're going to have to leave him soon, then we should make things special for him, you know?"

"Full of good ideas as always," Santana agreed.

After they'd left, Brittany had made her way to the Russos' and got the girls all set and dressed, strapped into the stroller for their walk to the Tylers'. She was halfway there when her phone rang.

"Hey, are you on your way?" Santana asked.

"Yeah, I'm like a block away."

"Jamie's got a cold," Santana revealed, and Brittany sighed.

"Then I shouldn't take the girls there or they'll get it, too."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you at the diner, just tell Jamie I'm going to think real hard about him so he gets better soon."

"I'll do that," she could hear the smile in Santana's voice.

After hanging up, Brittany had to stop and decide what to do, whether to go back to the Russo house or to do something else. "All dressed up and nowhere to go," she craned her neck to check on the girls. They were all sleeping. "I have an idea," she still told them.

When Santana had shown up at the diner later that day, Brittany was waiting for her outside. "Hey…"

"How's Jamie?"

"Miserable. I almost wanted to stay with him, but I had to go. I didn't even get to talk to his mom about the whole offer situation yet."

"Well, when you go back on Friday, will you bring this to him from me?" she pulled a bag from behind her back. The logo from the toy store made Santana smirk.

"What'd you do?"

"I took Bella, Dora, and Mina, and we went to do some shopping. You should have seen how many people stopped to look at them, they were very popular. Anyway, open the bag," she prompted. Santana did as told, and she laughed.

"That's a big dog," Santana declared of the great plush toy. "I think it's taller than him."

"Yeah, but it's really soft, and it'll make him feel better. I hope you don't mind, I mean I paid for it, I know we…" Santana stopped her, stepping up to kiss her.

"It's perfect, he'll love it. Of course now we'll have to make sure it doesn't get grabbed from the back, and we'll have to get it home tonight."

"Yeah, I almost left it at home when I went to change, but I wanted to show it to you now," she shrugged.

"Okay, fair enough. I'm going to start calling it Wally."

"Like Waldo?" Brittany laughed, holding the diner door open.

"Yeah. It would fit with the rest of the week, wouldn't it?"

"Wally," Brittany agreed.

"I'm sure Jamie'll find it another name, but he'll always be Wally to us." With Wally the plush dog hidden away in the back of the diner, the girls could get on with their shift. Coming back to the diner always felt different, almost special. This had been their first job here in Boston, both of them. It had been Santana's first job, after she'd officially moved to the city to be with Brittany, and it had been Brittany's once she'd had to leave dance school and also decided to stay. Things had started for them here, their aim to pool up as much money as they'd need to take themselves to New York and not just have a life but a good life. They weren't expecting to live in the lap of luxury, but they weren't going to struggle either.

Eventually they were going to have to think about it, really think about it. Where were they going to live? Where were they going to work? They weren't going to have five jobs a piece the way they did here, they would have one, two at the most. Maybe they would decide to go to college. As much as their education had been derailed by the last year, they weren't pretending like it didn't exist, even if they didn't know exactly what they wanted to do. Santana still hoped for Brittany that she would find her lost dance love again, get what she had been owed. And Brittany knew Santana had plenty of potential of her own. She had given up so much to be with her in Boston, but she wasn't going to let her forget herself. This was a life they were going to have, together, as a couple, and couples were supposed to look after one another, weren't they?

THE END


End file.
